The IRISH VOLUNTEERS (Irish :
Óglaigh na hÉireann ), sometimes
called the IRISH VOLUNTEER FORCE or IRISH VOLUNTEER ARMY, was a
military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists . It
was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster
Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and
maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of
Ireland". The Volunteers included members of the
Gaelic LeagueGaelic League ,
Ancient Order of HiberniansAncient Order of Hibernians and
Sinn FéinSinn Féin , and, secretly, the Irish
Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Increasing rapidly to a strength of
nearly 200,000 by mid-1914, it split in September of that year over
John RedmondJohn Redmond 's commitment to the British War effort , with the
smaller group retaining the name of "Irish Volunteers".

On 28 September 1912 at
Belfast City HallBelfast City Hall just over 450,000 Unionists
signed the
Ulster CovenantUlster Covenant to resist the granting of Home Rule. This
was followed in January 1913 with the formation of the Ulster
Volunteers composed of adult male Unionists to oppose the passage and
implementation of the bill by force of arms if necessary. The
establishment of the
Ulster VolunteersUlster Volunteers was (according to Eoin MacNeill
) instigated, approved, and financed by English Tories with the other
major British party, the Liberals, not finding "itself terribly
distressed by that proceeding."

INITIATIVE

The initiative for a series of meetings leading up to the public
inauguration of the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers came from the Irish Republican
Brotherhood (IRB).
Bulmer Hobson , co-founder of the republican
boy-Scouts,
Fianna Éireann , and member of the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, believed the IRB should use the formation of the Ulster
Volunteers as an "excuse to try to persuade the public to form an
Irish volunteer force". The IRB could not move in the direction of a
volunteer force themselves, as any such action by known proponents of
physical force would be suppressed, despite the precedent established
by the Ulster Volunteers. They therefore confined themselves to
encouraging the view that nationalists also ought to organise a
volunteer force for the defence of Ireland. A small committee then
began to meet regularly in
DublinDublin from July 1913, who watched the
growth of this opinion. They refrained however from any action until
the precedent of Ulster should have first been established while
waiting for the lead to come from a "constitutional" quarter.

The IRB began the preparations for the open organisation of the Irish
Volunteers in January 1913. James Stritch, an IRB member, had the
Irish National Foresters build a hall at the back of 41 Parnell Square
in Dublin, which was the headquarters of the Wolfe Tone Clubs .
Anticipating the formation of the Volunteers they began to learn
foot-drill and military movements. The drilling was conducted by
Stritch together with members of Fianna Éireann. They began by
drilling a small number of IRB associated with the
DublinDublin Gaelic
Athletic Association , led by
Harry Boland .

The IRB knew they would need a highly regarded figure as a public
front that would conceal the reality of their control. The IRB found
in
Eoin MacNeillEoin MacNeill , Professor of Early and Medieval History at
University College
DublinDublin , the ideal candidate. McNeill's academic
credentials and reputation for integrity and political moderation had
widespread appeal.

The O\'Rahilly , assistant editor and circulation manager of the
Gaelic LeagueGaelic League newspaper
An Claidheamh Soluis , encouraged MacNeill to
write an article for the first issue of a new series of articles for
the paper.
The O'Rahilly suggested to MacNeill that it should be on
some wider subject than mere Gaelic pursuits. It was this suggestion
which gave rise to the article entitled The North Began, giving the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers its public origins. On 1 November, MacNeill's article
suggesting the formation of an Irish volunteer force was published.
MacNeill wrote,

There is nothing to prevent the other twenty-eight counties from
calling into existence citizen forces to hold
IrelandIreland "for the
Empire". It was precisely with this object that the Volunteers of 1782
were enrolled, and they became the instrument of establishing Irish
self-government.

After the article was published, Hobson asked
The O'Rahilly to see
MacNeill, to suggest to him that a conference should be called to make
arrangements for publicly starting the new movement. The article
"threw down the gauntlet to nationalists to follow the lead given by
Ulster unionists." MacNeill was unaware of the detailed planning
which was going on in the background, but was aware of Hobson's
political leanings. He knew the purpose as to why he was chosen, but
he was determined not to be a puppet.

LAUNCH

With MacNeill willing to take part, O'Rahilly and Hobson sent out
invitations for the first meeting at Wynn's Hotel in Abbey Street,
Dublin, on 11 November. Hobson himself did not attend this meeting,
believing his standing as an "extreme nationalist" might prove
problematical. The IRB, however, was well represented by, among
others,
Sean MacDermott and
Eamonn Ceannt , who would prove to be
substantially more extreme than Hobson. Several others meetings were
soon to follow, as prominent nationalists planned the formation of the
Volunteers, under the leadership of MacNeill. Meanwhile, labour
leaders in
DublinDublin began calling for the establishment of a citizens'
defence force in the aftermath of the lock out of 19 August 1913.
Thus formed the
Irish Citizen Army , led by
James ConnollyJames Connolly , which,
though it had similar aims, had no connection with the Irish
Volunteers.

The Volunteer organisation was publicly launched on 25 November, with
their first public meeting and enrolment rally at the Rotunda in
Dublin. The IRB organised this meeting to which all parties were
invited, and brought 5000 enlistment blanks for distribution and
handed out in books of one hundred each to each of the stewards. Every
one of the stewards and officials wore on their lapel a small silken
bow the centre of which was white, while on one side was green and on
the other side orange and had long been recognised as the colours
which the
Irish Republican BrotherhoodIrish Republican Brotherhood had adopted as the Irish
national banner. The hall was filled to its 4,000 person capacity,
with a further 3,000 spilling onto the grounds outside. Speakers at
the rally included MacNeill,
Patrick PearsePatrick Pearse , and Michael Davitt, son
of the
Land League founder of the same name . Over the course of the
following months the movement spread throughout the country, with
thousands more joining every week.

The Manifesto of the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers was composed by MacNeill, with
some minimal changes added by Tom Kettle and other members of the
Provisional Committee. It stated that the organisation's objectives
were "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the
whole people of Ireland", and that membership was open to all Irishmen
"without distinction of creed, politics or social grade." Though the
"rights and liberties" were never defined, nor the means by which they
would be obtained, the IRB in the Fenian tradition construed the term
to mean the maintenance of the rights of
IrelandIreland to national
independence and to secure that right in arms.

The manifesto further stated that their duties were to be defensive,
contemplating neither "aggression or domination". It said that the
Tory policy in Ulster was deliberately adopted to make the display of
military force with the threat of armed violence the decisive factor
in relations between
IrelandIreland and Great Britain. If Irishmen accepted
this new policy he said they would be surrendering their rights as men
and citizens. If they did not attempt to defeat this policy "we become
politically the most degraded population in Europe and no longer
worthy of the name of nation." In this situation, it said,"the duty of
safeguarding our own rights is our duty first and foremost. They have
rights who dare maintain them." But rights, in the last resort, could
only be maintained by arms.

MacNeill himself would approve of armed resistance only if the
British launched a campaign of repression against Irish nationalist
movements, or if they attempted to impose conscription on Ireland
following the outbreak of the
First World WarFirst World War , in such a case he
believed that they would have mass support.

JOHN REDMOND AND THE IRISH PARLIAMENTARY PARTY

While the IRB was instrumental in the establishment of the
Volunteers, they were never able to gain complete control of the
organisation. This was compounded after
John RedmondJohn Redmond , leader of the
Irish Parliamentary PartyIrish Parliamentary Party , took an active interest. Though some well
known Redmond supporters had joined the Volunteers, the attitude of
Redmond and the Party was largely one of opposition, though by the
Summer of 1914, it was clear the IPP needed to control the Volunteers
if they were not to be a threat to their authority. The majority of
the IV members, like the nation as a whole, were supporters of Redmond
(though this was not necessarily true of the organisation's
leadership), and, armed with this knowledge, Redmond sought IPP
influence, if not outright control of the Volunteers. Negotiations
between MacNeil and Redmond over the latter's future role continued
inconclusively for several weeks, until on 9 June Redmond issued an
ultimatum, through the press, demanding the Provisional Committee
co-opt twenty-five IPP nominees. With several IPP members and their
supporters on the committee already, this would give them a majority
of seats, and effective control.

The more moderate members of the Volunteers' Provisional Committee
did not like the idea, nor the way it was presented, but they were
largely prepared to go along with it to prevent Redmond from forming a
rival organisation, which would draw away most of their support. The
IRB was completely opposed to Redmond's demands, as this would end any
chance they had of controlling the Volunteers. Hobson, who
simultaneously served in leadership roles in both the IRB and the
Volunteers, was one of a few IRB members to reluctantly submit to
Redmond's demands, leading to a falling out with the IRB leaders,
notably Tom Clarke . In the end the Committee accepted Redmond's
demands, by a vote of 18 to 9, most of the votes of dissent coming
from members of the IRB.

The new IPP members of the committee included MP
Joseph Devlin and
Redmond's son William , but were mostly composed of insignificant
figures, believed to have been appointed as a reward for party
loyalty. Despite their numbers, they were never able to exert control
over the organisation, which largely remained with its earlier
officers. Finances remained fully in the hands of the treasurer, The
O\'Rahilly , his assistant,
Eamonn Ceannt , and MacNeill himself, who
retained his position as chairman, further diminishing the IPP's
influence.

ARMING THE VOLUNTEERS

Shortly after the formation of the Volunteers, the British Parliament
banned the importation of weapons into Ireland. The "Curragh incident
" (also referred to as the "Curragh Mutiny") of March 1914, indicated
that the government could not rely on its army to ensure a smooth
transition to Home Rule. Then in April 1914 the Ulster Volunteers
successfully imported 24,000 rifles in the
Larne Gun Running event.
The
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers realised that it too would have to follow suit if
they were to be taken as a serious force. Indeed, many contemporary
observers commented on the irony of "loyal" Ulstermen arming
themselves and threatening to defy the British government by force.
Patrick PearsePatrick Pearse famously replied that "the Orangeman with a gun is not
as laughable as the nationalist without one." Thus O'Rahilly, Sir
Roger CasementRoger Casement and
Bulmer Hobson worked together to co-ordinate a
daylight gun-running expedition to
HowthHowth , just north of
DublinDublin .

The plan worked, and Erskine Childers brought nearly 1,000 rifles,
purchased from Germany, to the harbour on 26 July and distributed them
to the waiting Volunteers, without interference from the authorities.
The remainder of the guns smuggled from Germany for the Irish
Volunteers were landed at
KilcooleKilcoole a week later by Sir
Thomas Myles .

As the Volunteers marched from
HowthHowth back to Dublin, however, they
were met by a large patrol of the
DublinDublin Metropolitan Police and the
British ArmyBritish Army . The Volunteers escaped largely unscathed, but when the
army returned to
DublinDublin they clashed with a group of unarmed civilians
who had been heckling them at Bachelors Walk . Though no order was
given, the soldiers fired on the civilians, killing four and further
wounding 37. This enraged the populace, and during the outcry
enlistments in the Volunteers soared.

THE SPLIT

The outbreak of
World War IWorld War I in August 1914 provoked a serious split
in the organisation. Redmond, in the interest of ensuring the
enactment of the
Home RuleHome Rule Act 1914 then on the statute books,
encouraged the Volunteers to support the British and Allied war
commitment and join Irish regiments of the British New Army divisions,
an action which angered the founding members. Given the wide
expectation that the war was going to be a short one, the majority
however supported the war effort and the call to restore the "freedom
of small nations" on the European continent. They left to form the
National VolunteersNational Volunteers , some of whose members fought in the 10th and
16th (Irish) Division , side-by-side with their Ulster Volunteer
counterparts from the
36th (Ulster) Division .

A minority believed that the principles used to justify the Allied
war cause were best applied in restoring the freedom to one small
country in particular. They retained the name "Irish Volunteers", were
led by MacNeill and called for Irish neutrality. The National
Volunteers kept some 175,000 members, leaving the Irish Volunteers
with an estimated 13,500. However, the
National VolunteersNational Volunteers declined
rapidly, and the few remaining members reunited with the Irish
Volunteers in October 1917. The split proved advantageous to the IRB,
which was now back in a position to control the organisation.

Following the split, the remnants of the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers were often,
and erroneously, referred to as the "
Sinn FéinSinn Féin Volunteers", or, by
the British press, derisively as "Shinners ", after
Arthur GriffithArthur Griffith 's
political organisation
Sinn FéinSinn Féin . Although the two organisations had
some overlapping membership, there was no official connection between
Griffith's then moderate
Sinn FéinSinn Féin and the Volunteers. The political
stance of the remaining Volunteers was not always popular, and a
1,000-strong march led by Pearse through the garrison city of Limerick
on
Whit Sunday , 1915, was pelted with rubbish by a hostile crowd.
Pearse explained the reason for the establishment of the new force
when he said in May 1915:

What if conscription be enforced on Ireland? What if a Unionist or a
Coalition British Ministry repudiates the
Home RuleHome Rule Act?
What if it be determined to dismember Ireland? The future is big with
these and other possibilities.

After the departure of Redmond and his followers, the Volunteers
adopted a constitution, which had been drawn up by the earlier
provisional committee, and was ratified by a convention of 160
delegates on 25 October 1914. It called for general council of fifty
members to meet monthly, as well as an executive of the president and
eight elected members. In December a headquarters staff was appointed,
consisting of
Eoin MacNeillEoin MacNeill as chief of staff, The O\'Rahilly as
director of arms,
Thomas MacDonaghThomas MacDonagh as director of training, Patrick
Pearse as director of military organisation,
Bulmer Hobson as
quartermaster, and
Joseph Plunkett as director of military operations.
The following year they were joined by
Eamonn Ceannt as director of
communications and J.J. O'Connell as chief of inspection.

This reorganisation put the IRB is a stronger position, as four
important military positions (director of training, director of
military organisation, director of military operations, and director
of communications) were held by men who were, or would soon be,
members of the IRB, and who later become four of the seven signatories
of the Easter Proclamation . (Hobson was also an IRB member, but had a
falling out with the leadership after he supported Redmond's
appointees to the provisional council, and hence played little role in
the IRB thereafter.)

THE EASTER RISING, 1916

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The official stance of the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers was that action would
only be taken were the British authorities at
DublinDublin Castle to attempt
to disarm the Volunteers, arrest their leaders, or introduce
conscription to Ireland. The IRB, however, was determined to use the
Volunteers for offensive action while Britain was tied up in the First
World War. Their plan was to circumvent MacNeill's command,
instigating a Rising , and to get MacNeill on board once the rising
was a fait accompli.

Pearse issued orders for three days of parades and manoeuvres, a
thinly disguised order for a general insurrection. MacNeill soon
discovered the real intent behind the orders and attempted to stop all
actions by the Volunteers. He succeeded only in putting the Rising off
for a day, and limiting it to about 1,000 active participants within
DublinDublin and a very limited action elsewhere. Almost all of the fighting
was confined to Dublin. The
Irish Citizen Army supplied slightly more
than 200 personnel for the
DublinDublin campaign.

Steps towards reorganising the
Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers were taken during
1917, and on 27 October 1917 a convention was held in Dublin. This
convention was called to coincide with the
Sinn FéinSinn Féin party
conference. Nearly 250 people attended the convention; internment
prevented many more from attending. The
Royal Irish ConstabularyRoyal Irish Constabulary (RIC)
estimated that 162 companies of volunteers were active in the country,
although other sources suggest a figure of 390.

The proceedings were presided over by
Éamon de ValeraÉamon de Valera , who had been
elected President of
Sinn FéinSinn Féin the previous day. Also on the platform
were
Cathal Brugha and many others who were prominent in the
reorganising of the Volunteers in the previous few months, many of
them ex-prisoners.

De Valera was elected president. A national executive was also
elected, composed of representatives of all parts of the country. In
addition, a number of directors were elected to head the various IRA
departments. Those elected were: Michael Collins (Director for
Organisation);
Diarmuid Lynch (Director for Communications); Michael
Staines (Director for Supply); Rory O\'Connor (Director of
Engineering).
Seán McGarry was voted general secretary, while Cathal
Brugha was made Chairman of the Resident Executive, which in effect
made him Chief of Staff.

Sinn FéinSinn Féin MPs elected in 1918 fulfilled their election promise not
to take their seats in Westminster but instead set up an independent
"Assembly of Ireland", or
Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann , in the
Irish languageIrish language . In
theory, the Volunteers were responsible to the Dáil and was the army
of the Irish Republic. In practice, the Dáil had great difficulty
controlling their actions; under their own constitution, the
Volunteers were bound to obey their own executive and no other body.
The fear was increased when, on the very day the new national
parliament was meeting, 21 January 1919, members of the Third
Tipperary Brigade led by Séamus Robinson ,
Seán Treacy , Dan Breen
and
Seán Hogan carried out the
Soloheadbeg Ambush and seized a
quantity of gelignite , killing two RIC constables and triggering the
War of Independence . Technically, the men involved were considered to
be in a serious breach of Volunteer discipline and were liable to be
court-martialed, but it was considered more politically expedient to
hold them up as examples of a rejuvenated militarism. The conflict
soon escalated into guerrilla warfare by what were then known as the
Flying Columns in remote areas. Attacks on remote RIC barracks
continued throughout 1919 and 1920, forcing the police to consolidate
defensively in the larger towns, effectively placing large areas of
the countryside in the hands of the Republicans.

Moves to make the Volunteers the army of the Dáil and not its rival
had begun before the January attack, and were stepped up. On 31
January 1919 the Volunteer organ, An tÓglách ("The Volunteer")
published a list of principles agreed between two representatives of
the Aireacht, acting Príomh Aire
Cathal Brugha and Richard Mulcahy
and the Executive. It made first mention of the organisation treating
"the armed forces of the enemy – whether soldiers or policemen –
exactly as a national army would treat the members of an invading
army". In the statement the new relationship between the Aireacht and
the Volunteers – who increasingly became known as the Irish
Republican Army (IRA) – was defined clearly.

* The Government was defined as possessing the same power and
authority as a normal government.
* It, and not the IRA, sanctions the IRA campaign;
* It explicitly spoke of a state of war.

As part of the ongoing strategy to take control of the IRA, Brugha
proposed to
Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann on 20 August 1919 that the Volunteers were
to be asked, at this next convention, to swear allegiance to the
Dáil. He further proposed that members of the Dáil themselves should
swear the same oath. On 25 August Collins wrote to the First minister
(Príomh Aire), Éamon de Valera, to inform him "the Volunteer affair
is now fixed". Though it was "fixed" at one level, another year passed
before the Volunteers took an oath of allegiance to the Irish Republic
and its government, "throughout August 1920".

On 11 March 1921
Dáil ÉireannDáil Éireann discussed its relationship with its
army. De Valera commented that "..the Dáil was hardly acting fairly
by the army in not publicly taking full responsibility for all its
acts." The Dáil had not yet declared war, but was at war; it voted
unanimously that "..they should agree to the acceptance of a state of
war."

LEGACY

All organisations calling themselves the IRA , as well as the Irish
Defence Forces (IDF), have their origins in the Irish Volunteers. The
Irish name of the Volunteers,
Óglaigh na hÉireann , was retained
when the English name changed, and is the official Irish name of the
IDF, as well as the various IRAs.

The name of the
Bengal Volunteers , an Indian revolutionary
organization founded in 1928 and active against British rule in India,
may have been inspired by the Irish organization.